Against Prioritizing Environmentalism Over Human Health

It is fair to say that the mainstream of environmentalism prioritizes conservation of the environment over human comfort and health. Environmental concerns are high on the list of objections raised against treating aging as a medical condition, because most people believe that this will lead to a larger population, and also believe that population increases cannot occur without degrading the environment. Both of those beliefs are false, the latter evidently so given the improvements in the environment created since the 1950s, over a period of considerable population growth. Models strongly suggest that the future is one in which population growth diminishes with increasing wealth, as is already happening in countries like Japan, and we certainly live in a world in which the wealth of individuals and populations is increasing, quite rapidly in the poorest regions. In this context, it is interesting to see commentary from someone who values both (a) the high profile goals of environmentalism, and (b) the high profile goals of efforts to treat aging and thereby extend the healthy human life span. There is no reason as to why we can't have the cake and eat it in this case. Given the will, we can have both great longevity and the world recreated as an unspoiled garden. The conflicts between these goals are illusionary, an outcome of mistaken ideas as to what greater longevity will mean, and how technological progress and economic incentives work to create new resources and ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs